'This is not country I grew up in': Naseeruddin Shah questions Mumbai University 'disinvite', criticises 'Vishwaguru' politics

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah criticised Mumbai University after he was "disinvited" at the last moment, an event he was greatly looking forward to.

In a strongly worded article in the Indian Express titled "When a university speaks power to truth", Shah expressed dissatisfaction with the university after they informed him on January 31 that he need not attend Jashn-e-Urdu programme organised by the university's Urdu department, which was to be held on February 1.

"The university, after informing me that I needn't attend... decided to rub a little salt in by announcing that I had refused to be there," Shah wrote.

He described teaching and engaging with students as some of the "most joyous and educational experiences" of his professional life, adding that he had gained more from such interactions than from formal teachers of acting.

Shah suggested that the real reason for his disinvitation lay in his public criticism of the current political climate.

"It's not really surprising they didn't have the courage to state the truth - that I 'openly make statements against the country," he wrote.

Shah further mentioned about "self proclaimed Vishwaguru", and his "narcissism".

"Sure, I have never praised the self-proclaimed 'Vishwaguru'. In fact, I have been critical of the way he conducts himself. His narcissism offends me and I haven't been impressed by a single thing he's done in 10 years," he wrote in the article.

In the article, Shah expressed concern over what he described as shrinking freedoms, the treatment of student activists, and the broader social atmosphere, invoking George Orwell's 1984 situation writing "not singing the praise of the "great leader" is considered sedition", to underline his unease with what he called constant surveillance and "24 hours of hate."

"This is not the country I grew up in and was taught to love. The "thought police" and "doublespeak" have been deployed in full force, as has surveillance," he wrote.

(With agency inputs)